Road Test 2010 Audi A5 2.0TFSI Coupe, more powerful than it should be

The Audi 2.0 TFSI engine is more powerful than it has any right to be, and it drives the 2010 Audi A5 2.0T with more enthusiasm than an engine ot that size should be able to do. In fact, we had been somewhat disappointed, or at least expected to be disappointed, when we learned our tester would be powered by Audi's two-liter four-cylinder engine. We were coming out of the 2010 Audi S5 Cabriolet, and certainly the A5 2.0 TFSI would be a letdown after driving the 354-horsepower S5.

We were wrong. It's not often that we say that, but the turbocharged direct-injection four's enthusiasm belied its 211 horsepower, thanks in large part to its 258 lb-ft of torque.

But let's back up for a moment. The Audi A5 is essentially a coupe version of the Audi A4. The seating position it a bit lower and the wheelbase shrunk by a couple of inches. However, while the Audi A4 is handsome, the A5 is gorgeous, almost baroque, with lines that flow like icing from a master pastry chef's tube. We liked the double curved character line on the S5 Cabriolet, but combined with the roofline curve that only an Italian--one was responsible for the design--could draw, the style of A5 coupe is translucent, if that term can describe an objectively opaque object.

Inside, the Audi A5 coupe displays a merging of art and function. There are curves and the curves are accented by real wood on the door trim and center console. The interior of our test A5 coupe was an impossibly impractical off-white cream, but set off against the blonde wood, it's more than worth the extra effort to keep it clean.

The front seats are deeply bolstered, sides and back, and have extended seat bottoms for good thigh support. The cockpit is oriented around the driver, as a coupe should be, with the center stack canted slightly towards the driver though still accessible to the front seat passenger.

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We're less than pleased with Audi's MMI control. Functions controlled by this system are displayed on the central display screen but managed via a central toggle. However, to reach a major category, one must push one of four buttons around the toggle and that, at least for the novice, requires looking down to the console. Maybe it's something the constant driver can learn, but it required us to look away from the road for too long.

That said, the display is one of the best we've seen, with sufficiently fine detail that allowed easier use of the navigation system and made the text of the other functions, such as the audio, easier to read. We also liked the functionality of the navigation and other systems. It was just the looking away that bothered us, and that's maybe something that becomes less necessary with use.

Like most coupes, the rear seats are a snug fit, and with the A5, mostly for legroom. Access is aided by powering the front seats forward, but it still requires agility and a cooperative front seat occupant as well as a back seat occupant who believes it when told that it won't be a long ride.

The trunk is roomy for a coupe and the trunk lid opens for better access than many sedans have. At 12.0 cubic feet, the Audi A5 has enough cargo capacity for a road trip for any reasonable twosome.

Handling is to the Audi A5 what hot dogs are to Coney Island. It's something the A5 does very well. The A5 has the new Audi drivetrain configuration that moved the engine and therefore its mass rearward--or as Audi says, moves the front axle forward--for better balance. The A5 is also available only with all-wheel drive--"quattro" in Audi-speak--which distributes torque and traction to all four wheels, a plus in the dry but a genuine boon in low traction situations.

The A5's handling does not come at the expense of ride. It's smooth and quiet on the highway, with minimal road noise and no wind or engine noise at cruise.

Audi's two-liter turbo four isn't loud when accelerating but the sound is rewarding, the engine vibration free to redline. The six-speed manual transmission shifts easily regardless of rpm or mode, not binding up near redline. The shifter is so good it's not particularly memorable. It goes where it's supposed to, with the right amount of resistance and the right amount of throw. And the pedals, bless 'em, are well spaced for the old heel-and-toe. There's a six-speed Tiptronic automatic transmission, but unless there's an overriding need for an automatic--frequent driving in heavy traffic, or a shameful inability to drive a manual transmission--we heartily commend the manual gearbox.

Audi also offers a 3.2-liter V-6 in the A5, and it has a slight acceleration advantage over the 2.0-liter turbo four, and though we've not driven that model--which is available only with an automatic transmission--we'd be quite happy with the four.

The A5 Cabriolet, for the record, is offered only with the four cylinder engine. For more power al fresco, one must movie up to the Audi S5. But the Audi A5 2.0 TFSI six-speed manual does zero to sixty mph in 6.4 seconds which, we think, is about quick enough. And certainly quicker than it has any right to be, and certainly enough for enthusiasm.

Illustration: 2010 Audi A5 2.0 TFSI Coupe. Photograph by John Matras.

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